Thailand is known for bugs being fried up and sold as a street snack and considering how they can be analternative food source for the growing population, it can be remarkable that its being used in the culinary world too. According to Fox News, Insects In The Backyard is a new bistro that aims to revolutionize bugs by creating gourmet dishes.

A Part Of The Cuisine

“In Thailand, there is a long history of local populations, of people consuming insects and they continue to do, in large amounts. But it’s essentially as a snack, not a part of dishes, not a part of cuisine,” told Regan Suzuki Pairojmahakij, a Canadian partner at the eatery to Fox News. “We are interested in moving people away from seeing insects from purely as a snack to be a part of a gourmet and a delicious cuisine.”

The executive chef Thitiwat Tantragarn is a veteran of top restaurants in Thailand and is responsible of creating a menu that features ants, crickets, bamboo caterpillars, silkworms and giant water beetles with the help of his team. “It’s a new thing,” Thitiwat said to the reporter of Fox News. “You live in the world, you need to learn the new thing.” He said he’s cooked with pork and chicken for a long time, but insects are “a new world of cooking (and a) new lesson.”

“When I taste this, it’s opened my new attitudes about foods: that insects are one of the foods that’s edible,” said Kelvarin Chotvichit, a lawyer from Bangkok remarking the food as revelation of taste and texture. “And it’s tasty too. It’s not weird as you thought. And the feeling — it’s crispy; it’s like a snack. Yeah, I like it.”